Permaculture: a term we were unfamiliar with until we talked with some neighboring farmers. Then we read Restoration Agriculture by Mark Shepard. Wow, what transformative ideas. Retain all rain water. Build, not till, soils. Plant perennials to create a food forest -- so your time is spent harvesting not replanting.

Bill Mollison, the founder of the permaculture movement defines it best: "Permaculture" refers to an integrated, self-sustaining system of perennial agriculture ... which involves a large diversity of plant and animal species. A permaculture is really a completely self-contained agricultural ecosystem that is designed to minimize maintenance input and maximize product yield. In a permaculture, little wheels or cycles of energy are set up ... and the system virtually keeps itself going! Essentially, it's a living clockwork that should never run down ... at least as long as the sun shines and the earth revolves.

Geoff Lawton, one of our favorite Permaculture designers and teachers, has produced dozens of free you tube videos demonstrating the rewards of growing food this way. Here is a 30-minute Permaculture lesson by Geoff - his answer to how we can create abundance in the midst of the coming transition brought on by the end of cheap fossil fuels and climate change. Permaculture = Resiliency.

Taproot Farm intends to invest in this soil-growing, life-sustaining movement. To start, we've allocated a 3-acre field to begin this transformation. During the summer of 2014, garden manager, Josh, helped us create our first berms and basins to "slow, sink and spread" rainwater. Josh is a graduate of the Finger Lakes Permaculture Instituteand has outlined an ambitious plan for the acreage. We realize this effort will take many years -- but we are committed to this future for our farm.

"The only way to come to grips with the crises and find solutions is to understand that we are biological creatures, with an absolute need for clean air, clean water, clean food and soil, clean energy, and biodiversity.

Capitalism, communism, democracy, free enterprise, corporations, economies, and markets do not alter those basic needs. After all, those are human constructs, not forces of nature. Similarly, the borders we throw up around our property, cities, states, and countries mean nothing to nature.

All the hopes that meetings such as the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and the climate conferences in Kyoto in 1997, Copenhagen in 2009, and Cancun in 2010 would help us resolve major ecological challenges will be dashed as long as we continue to put economic and political considerations above our most fundamental biological, social, and spiritual needs. We humans may be heavy hitters, but we must remember that nature bats last."~ David Suzuki